piano evaluation checklist

[Fenton Murray]

MessageTo Brian Grist,
I believe I will print out your response here and pin it to the shop wall.
Fenton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Geoff Sykes 
  To: ed440 at mindspring.com ; 'Pianotech List' 
  Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 10:38 AM
  Subject: RE: piano evaluation checklist


  Good point. Thanks for the reminder.

  -- Geoff
    -----Original Message-----
    From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of ed440 at mindspring.com
    Sent: Saturday, July 01, 2006 4:17 AM
    To: Pianotech List
    Subject: RE: piano evaluation checklist


    Geoff-

    You will want to know if this is a grey market import. 
    Call Yamaha, tell them the serial number and find out if they will supply replacement parts.

    Ed Sutton



      -----Original Message----- 
      From: Geoff Sykes 
      Sent: Jun 30, 2006 11:28 PM 
      To: 'Pianotech List' 
      Subject: RE: piano evaluation checklist 


      Brian --

      Thank you for your thoughts and ethical concerns. Indeed, what you are describing is exactly how I would handle the situation if I was doing the evaluation for the person that already owned the piano. I would hope that delivering honesty and developing trust in a potential client with whom one wants a lasting relationship is ultimately the goal of all tuner technicians. It's certainly mine.

      In this instance I was asked by a potential buyer to evaluate an old Yamaha UX on a dealers floor. Fortunately this is not a dealer I already have a relationship with, so my obligation is to the buyer, who is paying me for my skills and time. (If I did have a relationship with the dealer I probably would not have accepted the job due to conflict of interest.) My objective is really only to determine if the piano is worth buying, and to advise my customer, the buyer, of possible problems and repair costs should they decide to buy. I believe that the price, unless it is outrageous, is ultimately whatever the buyer and the dealer decide on and I don't think it would be my place to intervene. 

      Your observations on customer relations is well thought out and very good. Thank you for sharing it with me and the rest of the list.

      -- Geoff Sykes
      -- Assoc. Los Angeles




        -----Original Message-----
        From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of BRIAN GRIST
        Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 11:57 PM
        To: Pianotech List
        Cc: MARY; Andrea Sed; slgrist Grist; bng0809 at msn.com
        Subject: Re: piano evaluation checklist



          Geoff,

             It seems as if you have received several forms and lots of good advice on your evaluation journey. I would like to share with you my ethical and professional business opinions at no cost and expect only that you will value them accordingly. 

             In practical terms, your customer has asked you for an evaluation of their instrument and you are eager to demonstrate your ability to perform this evaluation. However, what your customer is really asking of you is to satisfy their musical needs and desires. They have invited you into their home to find out if you can help them reach this personal musical goal and how much it will cost them to do so. Therefore, it is critical to clearly understand their specific needs and desires before starting any of the technical aspects of this evaluation. Perhaps if you approached it in a fashion that you might utilize to determine if the young man that has just crossed your threshold is worthy of dating your daughter; my advice might resonate more clearly for you.

             What are the customer's intentions for their piano? How much do they value their piano right now? What kind of relationship do they have in mind for their piano? Who will be playing the piano and how often will it be played? What is their musical skill level and how often do they intend to service and tune it in the future? Are they willing to make a long term commitment to their piano or are they perhaps intending to play it only for a short while and then sell it and move on to another instrument? I think you get what type of questions I ask at the beginning of the evaluation and also (in a different but related topic) what I put the young man that recently married my daughter through.   

             The primary thing you are selling them is a relationship with you. Understanding your customer's needs will allow you to customize the information in an evaluation to satisfy them. They will be happy to have chosen you to evaluate their piano and you will have satisfied the most basic pretense of all business; you will have sold yourself .All of the technical stuff will fall into place after you develop an understanding of their needs. They will be happy to pay you for getting the results they may or may not have known they had to begin with. They will tell their friends what a great listener their piano tuner is (pun intended). 

             Try using a piano tuner's most valuable asset; your ears. Listen to your customer to understand before beginning the technical aspects of the evaluation. I trust this will make your experience far more rewarding for all involved and may very well result in some valuable referrals for additional business. What more gratifying profession could one ask for? How many people get the opportunity to bring musical joy into other people's lives on a daily basis and then be blessed by them once again with payment for having done so?

          Brian Grist

          bng0809 at msn.com
            









          ----- Original Message ----- 
          From: Geoff Sykes 
          To: Pianotech at Ptg. Org 
          Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 3:17 PM
          Subject: piano evaluation checklist


          Greetings all --

          I have never done a piano evaluation before but I have been called upon to do one. In preparation I have been re-reading Larry Fine. So many things one never really thinks about when simply tuning and maintaining the beasts. Anyway, several months ago I remember, or perhaps imagined, that someone here posted a rather detailed piano evaluation checklist. I have already searched the archives and can't find it. Does someone here have something like this they would be willing to share, or should I just go ahead and reinvent it? 

          -- Geoff  Sykes
          -- Assoc. Los Angeles
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